3,000-plus pills seized in drug arrest

A Kings Mountain woman was arrested and charged with trafficking opium after an overseas package containing thousands of prescription pills was delivered to her home, according to the Cleveland County Sheriff's Office.

A Kings Mountain woman was arrested and charged with trafficking opium after an overseas package containing thousands of prescription pills was delivered to her home, according to the Cleveland County Sheriff's Office.

Cynthia Bradshaw Sandlin, of 105 Mail Road, Kings Mountain, was arrested and booked into the Cleveland County Detention Center with a $500,000 bond.

She was not listed as an inmate Thursday.

"We think there are other individuals involved," Sheriff Alan Norman said. "It's an ongoing open investigation."

Norman said the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and N.C. Department of the Secretary of State contacted the sheriff's office about a package that was intercepted from overseas.

Norman said the package contained 1,689 prescription pills, including xanax, hydrocodone and oxycodone.

Homeland Security notified the sheriff's office, Norman said, and the package was sent on until the sheriff's office narcotic's unit tracked it to Sandlin's home. She was arrested Feb. 15.

A second package, containing about 1,600 pills, was also delivered to Sandlin's home, according to the sheriff's office.

'Very uncommon'

Norman said one package came from Great Britain and the other from the United Arab Emirates.

He said it's possible the pills were manufactured at a clandestine lab.

"It's very uncommon to come across that many," he said about the number of pills seized.

He estimated the street value of the drugs as somewhere between $23,000 to $25,000.

'Our number one problem'

Norman said he expects to see more of these cases as the abuse of prescription pills continues to climb.

"In Cleveland County, prescription drugs is our number one problem when it comes to drug investigations," he said.

As local laws become more stringent, he said, criminals are resorting to other methods to obtain the narcotics.

The sheriff's office recently assigned an investigator to specifically work prescription drug diversion cases and to educate the public on the dangers of the pills.

"It's becoming one of the drugs of choice," Norman said.

Anyone who may be aware of someone who is illegally possessing or distributing prescription medication can contact the Cleveland County Sheriff's Office at 704-484-4831.